COVER
STREAMING IS RESHAPING GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT By CHRIS McGOWAN
TOP: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Image courtesy of Marvel Studios) OPPOSITE TOP: WandaVision (Image courtesy of Marvel Studios)
At the start of 2020, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other streamers were already reshaping the movie and television-watching experience. Then came the pandemic. As home entertainment demand soared, movie theaters shut down and film and TV suffered a slump in production. Studios postponed premieres and tinkered with movie release strategies. Streaming services benefited from the increased demand and grew across the board. Due to all the disruptions that followed – either because of or accelerated by COVID-19 – the new decade seems set to become “the Streaming ’20s.” HBO Max is one of several streaming success stories. Launched on May 27, 2020 during the pandemic, it has been growing rapidly, with 17.2 million activations in the fourth quarter. HBO and HBO Max had 41.5 million U.S. subscribers as of the end of 2020, according to the company (HBO consumers and new subscribers are being directed now just to HBO Max). “So far, HBO Max has exceeded expectations and we have seen some exciting momentum over the last several months,” says Andy Forssell, Executive Vice President and General Manager at HBO Max. “[Last] fall, hits like The Undoing and The Flight Attendant drove record usage on the platform. We also completed our distribution footprint, striking deals with Amazon and Roku, and Wonder Woman 1984 arrived on HBO Max on Christmas Day to record viewing. We’ve grown more subscribers this year than HBO did over all of the last 10 years, so we’re very excited about the enthusiasm we’re seeing and hearing from fans.”
22 • VFXVOICE.COM SUMMER 2021
PG 22-28 STREAMING.indd 22
5/6/21 11:53 AM
